One could write a doctoral dissertation on the reasons why female action heroines are a hard sell. If you did compose such an analysis, you’d probably have to include chapters on why most Disney heroines are motherless/orphaned.

You’d also have to define what a female hero is, the difference between and include examples… I mean, some female heroes would seem to be so alpha as to lose most of what makes the character feminine. The actress who plays Starbuck in BSG and the badass character in the new Bionic Woman show doesn’t have too much femininity attached to either character.

The flip side to the alpha female isn’t the “Wilting Mary” but the femme fatale — great, but usually best suited for a villain role.

The best female action hero roles are the ones where the feminine side plays a key role, and this is subject to much debate. Aliens, is usually an example everyone can relate to here. Also Shakespeare In Love to a similar extent. Several other examples here.

I can’t address the Jodi Foster movies mentioned above, but isn’t the plot on most of those, “Everyone might think I’m a ‘Wilting Mary’ but I’ll show you I’m not!!” ?

I definitely can’t comment on Wonder Woman, because my only exposure was the Lynda Carter TV series, and that left me a changed boy… If Superman detractors just refer to him as a superpowered Boy Scout, is Wonder Woman a superpowered Girl Scout, or is there something else I’m missing?

Plus, its general theme of a female under seige and fighting back reminded me of at least 2 other Foster movies. She has appeared in Panic Room, and uh, Flight Plan(?) Maybe she needs to look for richer material.

So, since a few recent movies didn’t do boffo box office, there are to be no more movies with female leads? Hmm. Sounds like a coup for the competition.

Just an FYI, Superman Returns’ production budget was a little over $200 million. The “$240M budget” everyone talks about includes previous development attempts dating back all the way back to 1994. For the Singer film alone, it was something like $205M.

WB still made a profit on Returns – it made more money worldwide than Batman Begins did – over 400 million. Factor in licensing, DVDs, etc. and you’ve still got a moneymaker on your hands. Hence the forthcoming sequel.

I think the core issue is that there aren’t any bankable stars like Julia Roberts and Sandra Bullock filling that niche. Or even Drew Barrymore. Studios have tried to get the next generation of Roberts and Bullocks, but America hasn’t really warmed to them – Lindsay Lohan, Jennifer Garner, etc.

So it’s easy to see why studios don’t want to commit to something that won’t make money. Until they find that next Julia Roberts, that is.

(CATWOMAN, I’m looking at you…)

Oh, and according to BoxOfficeMojo.com, SUPERMAN RETURNS took in $200 million in domestic total gross box office, which would have been fine if the production budget wasn’t $270 million (or more). BATMAN BEGINS only took in $5 million more in domestic gross but is deemed a success because it only had a production budget of $150 million.